Latch means



G. FONTANA LATCH MEANS med June 14, 196e March 3,y 1970 United States Patent O 3,498,657 LATCH MEANS Giampiero Fontana, Milan, Italy, assignor to Valextra S.p.A., Milan, Italy, a company of Italy Filed June 14, 1966, Ser. No. 557,565 Int. Cl. Ec 1/12; A45c 13/10; E05b 65/52 U.S. Cl. 292-34 ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A latch means wherein the latch member may be released through rotation of a hand knob in either direction, and wherein the latch member is self-locking upon release of said knob. The latch means includes a locking means which is actuable by the turning of a key which in turn actuates a locking plate which is coaxially mounted relative to said hand knob.

This invention relates to a latch means, and more particularly to a spring latch means applicable to cases, trunks and the like, these latter consisting of a body and a lid which can be locked to said body.

An object of the invention is to provide a latching device whose employment in a case or trunk allows said case to be readily closed by merely bringing said lid into contact with the case body, a locking action of said lid with respect to said body taking place automatically.

Another object is to provide a latch means permitting to pass with utmost simplicity from a closed condition to an open condition a case to which said latch means has been applied, an automatic disengagement and removal of the lid from the case body taking place b merely manipulating an actuation member.

Another object is to provide a latching device having a very simple structural configuration and which is capable of affording quite a safe and stable locking of the lid to the case body when said case is in the closed condition.

Yet another object is to provide a latch means equipped with means for keeping the latch means in the closed condition steadily.

The inventive latching device comprises a frame member which can be afixed to one of two cooperating but separable elements such as the lid of the case or trunk, at least a latching member displaceable between guiding members mounted on said frame member between an open position and a closed position, a spring member urging said latch member towards its closed position, a cam acting upon said latch member and actuable by manual manipulation members against the bias of said spring from a closed position to an open position, said cam being in a stable at rest position only whenever said latch is closed, said latch having a hook-shaped portion which is snap engaged whenever said lid is brought closely adherent to said case body by a corresponding member projecting from the other cooperating element such as from said lid or from said case body, respectively, resilient means being provided on said frame member, said latter means, when said projecting portion is engaged by the hook-shaped portion of said latch, acting on said projecting member so as to keep said lid away of said case or trunk body.

ln order to afford a clearer understanding of the lock structure an exemplary embodiment thereof will be illusstated, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE l is illustrative of a diagrammatical front end view, partly in cross-section, of the latch means, said cross-section being taken along the line I-I of FIG. 2. FIGURE 2 is a top View, taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1, of said latch means partly in section, and

11 Claims.

3,498,657 Patented Mar. 3, 1970 ICC FIGURE 3 is illustrative of a detail of FIG. 1, shown on an enlarged scale.

As can be seen on the drawing, the latch means com prises a frame member 1, of boxlike configuration, affixed, for example, to a sidewall of the lower portion, called herein the body, of a case or a trunk, this being not shown in the drawing to simplify the illustration. Prismatic members such as 2 protrude from said frame 1 and these, in cooperation with the frame sidewalls themselves, act as a guiding members for two latches 3, which, in turn, can be longitudinally displaced between a closed or latching position (as shown in the drawing) in which both latches are kept one away of the other, and an open or unlatching position in which said latches are brought close to one another.

The ends, brought close to one another, of the latches 3 are curled so to form mutually parallel surfaces 4 between which is positioned a resilient means such as a spring 5 which acts upon said surfaces in a direction such as to keep the latter spaced apart, said spring being mounted on pins 6 which project out of said surfaces 4. From the frame member 1 jut two pivots 7 to which two levers 8 are fulerumed, said levers thrusting with either end the surfaces 4 of the latches 3 on the side away of the spring 5, and, with the other end, are urged against the active surface of a cam 9, said cam having a virtually quadrilateral outline with a scallop formed on each side. The cam 9 is solid with a hollow cylinder or shaft 10 whose free end is shaped as a manipulating knob 11, the hollow cylinder being threaded on a mounting pin 12 projecting from the frame 1. By manually manipulating the knob 11, the cam 9 can be rotated about the pivot 12: ,the rotation of the cam 9 causes the levers 8 to be rotated about their respective pivotal points and thus brings the surfaces 4 of the latches 3 close to one another by the instrumentality of the levers which act upon said surfaces 4. It should be noticed that, inasmuch as the levers 8 strongly press onto the surface of the cam 9 under the bias of the spring 5 and, more particularly, as a consequence of the outline of said cam as well as the coniiguration of that part of each lever 8 which comes into contact with-said cam 9, the cam is in a stable at rest position only when the ends of the levers 8 have entered the scallops formed in correspondence of each side of the quadrilatral outline of same cam 9. Stated alternatively, this means that the latches are in a stable position only in the closed position as shown in the accompanying drawing, since the latches are in an unstable open position (whereat they stay for a very short time), when the cam 9 is rotated from a stable at rest position to ahother stable at rest position, and more exactly when the levers 8 act upon those part of the outline of the cam 9 which have a tip configuration, that is, the apexes of the quadrilateral periphery of the cam.

As it can be particularly appreciated on FIG. 1, the end of the latches 3 which is opposite to the one which is curled to form the surfaces 4, is hook-shaped at 13. In correspondence with the hook-like end 13 of the latches 3, separating means are provided on the frame member 1, said means consisting of a plunger 14 biased by a spring 15, housed within a body 16 solid with the frame member 1. The free end of the piston 14 just out of the body 16 and, as the lid of the case or trunk to which the lock is applied is not closed to abut the body of said case or trunk, projects so as to reach the immediate vicinity of the hook 13 and beneath the same. In the frame 1 two perforations 17 are formed in correspondence with the hook-like ends 13, of the latches 3. Within each of said perforations 17, whenever the lid of said case or trunk is brought to abut the body thereof, a pin 18, projecting from said lid, is allowed to penetrate. As best viewed on FIG. 1, each pin as 18 has a hooking notch formed thereon, each pin having a beveled free end so that, as the lid abuts the trunk body, the pin under consideration is snap engaged by the hook-like projection of its related latch, said pin acting on the plunger 14 thus compressing the spring (see FIG. l) and so the case is automatically closed.

To open the case, it is enough to rotate the cam 9 through 90 degrees, acting on the knob 11; as soon as the levers 8 cooperate with the tips of the outline of the cam 9, the latches are temporarily brought to an opened condition. F[he hook-like portion 13 of the latches is withdrawn from the notch of the attendant pin 18, the latter being pushed out by the plunger 14 which thus causes the lid to be parted olf the case body. The latches are thus restored to their closed position without however hooking up any longer the pins 18 (which have been brought away by the plungers 14), unless, of course, the lid is kept pressed against the case body.

As can be seen in the drawing, the pin 12 projecting out of the frame member 1 carries, freely rotatable about its own axis a hollow cylinder or shaft 19 which is mounted, also freely rotatably, the hollow cylinder 10: axially adjacent and parallel to the cam 9, is solidly aixed to the hollow cylinder 19 a plane member 20 having the shape as shown FIG. 3. The free end of the hollow cylinder 19 is stepped so as to be engaged by a special key, not shown in the drawing to simplify the illustration, to be slipped into the cylindrical cavity formed in the knob 11 and in the cylinder 10 (see more particularly FIG. 2). A rotation of said key induces the rotation of the member 20 which, it is fitting to repeat, can be rotated only by said key. In the member 20 have been formed two slots, clearly shown in the drawing, and, in correspondence with said slots, a small pin 21 projects from each lever 8. When the member 20 is in the angular position shown FIG. l, the 1 small pins 21 do not engage the slots of the member 20, and thus the levers 8 can be rotated by the cam 9, via the knob 11. When conversely, the member 20 has been brought by the specially provided key to the position shown FIG. 3, the slots of said member 20 engage the small pins 21, any rotation of the levers 8 being thus prevented. If the member 20 is not brought by the special key to the conditions of FIG. 1 again, the case cannot be opened any more by manipulating the knob 11.

A portion of the peripheral outer surface of the member 20 is so shaped as to take a markedly convex trend against which abuts an end of a plunger 22 biased by a spring 23 and housed within a body 24 aiiixed to the frame member 1. The action of the plunger 22 on said markedly convex surface of the member 20 causes the latter to remain in its at rest position in the condition of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, thus rendering any other intermediate position unstable.

Two pointed edges, formed at the ends of the markedly convex surface of the member 20 provide end of stroke abutments for the rotation thereof. When passing from the conditions shown FIG. 1 to those of FIG. 3, and vice versa, the member 20, when rotated by the special key, is directly caused to snap in the position towards which is rotated by the plunger 22 as soon as the latter has overcome the apex of the markedly convex face of the member 20.

Be it understood that, lalthough a single embodiment of the lock has been shown herein, it can be embodied also in different Ways other than shown herein. For example, the cam 9 instead of being quadrilateral, can also take any other polygonal outline.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch means for securing together two cooperating elements which are separable relative to each other, said latch means comprising a frame which is attachable to one of said cooperating elements and a latch engaging means which is attachable to the other of said cooperating elements, a latch member mounted on said frame for movement between a latching and an unlatching position relative to said latch engaging means, resilient means urging said latch member towards said latching position, a control means for moving said latch member to said unlatching position against the urging of said resilient means, said control means comprising a hand-actuable rotatable member having a cam rigidly attached thereto, said cam having a cam surface which is associated with said latch member and is so configured whereby rotation of said cam in either rotative direction effects a displacement of said latch member between said positions thereof, the configuration of said cam surface being such that said latch member and cam assume a stable atrest condition coinciding with said latching position of said latch member and assume an unstable condition coinciding with the unlatching position of said latch member whereby release of said hand-actuable member while said unstable condition exists results in an automatic return of said latch member and said cam to said stable condition under the urging of said resilient means, said cam surface including a plurality of identical profile portions in circumferential succession extending about the entire circumferential periphery of said cam, whereby said cam is fully rotatable in either rotatable direction in order to effect the latching and unlatching movements of said latch member.

2. The latch means of claim 1, including a movable separation member mounted on said frame in a position whereby it abuts against a portion of said other element when said latch member is in said latching position, resilient means urging said separation member towards said other element in a direction so as to induce separation of said elements from each other, whereby separation member automatically pushes said elements apart pursuant to said latch member being in said unlatching position thereof.

3. The latch means of claim 1, including a key-operable locking means for securing said latching member in said latching position thereof, said locking means comprising a locking member mounted on said frame coaxially with said hand-actuable control member for rotation between locking and unlocking positions thereof, said cam and locking member being freely rotatable realtive to each other.

4. The latch means of claim 3, including a means for yieldably holding said locking member in either of said positions thereof, said locking member including a keyengaging portion and being rotatable from either of said positions thereof to the other of said positions pursuant to manipulation of a key engaged in said key-engaging portion.

5. The latch means of claim 3, said locking member including a slot which opens at the periphery of said locking member, said control means including a pivoted lever a portion of which bears against said latch member and another portion of which carries a pin extending parallel to the rotative axis of said locking member, said pin being slidably engageable within said slot, said locking position of said locking member coinciding with said pin being engaged in said slot whereby said lever is restrained against any pivotal movement relative to said locking member and said unlocking position of said locking member coinciding with said pin residing outwardly of said slot whereby said lever is free to pivot relative to said locking member.

`6. The latch means of claim 4, said locking member having an outer peripheral surface portion defined by a convex surface having depressions at opposite ends thereof, said means for holding said locking member including a pin having an end thereof slidably engaged against said locking member surface portion and resilient means urging said pin towards said surface portion.

7. The latch means of claim 1, said latch member and said latch engaging means including a bevelled end on one slidably engageable with an end of the other, whereby said latch member is urged to its unlatching position by virtue of said ends sliding along each other pursuant to said elements being brought together from a separated condition, said latch member and latch engaging means including cooperating abutment portions which are locking inter-engageable.

8. The latch means of claim 3, said frame having a rigid mounting member extending therefrom, said handactuable member comprising a first hollow shaft rotatably mounted coaxially with and about said mounting member, said locking member including a second hollow shaft rotatably mounted coaxially with and about said mounting member and within said rst hollow shaft, said locking member including a plate rigidly extending radially from said second shaft parallel to and axially adjacent to said cam, said cam extending rigidly radially from said first shaft, an axially hollow hand-knob also rigidly attached to said first shaft, key-engaging means on said second shaft adapted to receive a key inserted axially into the hollow portion of said knob and said hollow first shaft.

9. The latch means of claim 1, including two of said latch members acting oppositely to each other to coact With respective oppositely located ones f said latch engaging means, said resilient means comprising a coil spring mounted between said latch members and simultaneously urging them both away from each other and towards their respective said latching positions, said control means being located centrally relative to said latch members and coacting simultaneously with both.

10. The latch means of claim 9, said cam surface being quadrilateral and all sides thereof being identical to each other, each of said sides including an arcuately concave extent adjoned at each end by a radially protruding extent, said control means including a pivoted lever for each of said latch members, said lever having opposite ends and being pivoted intermediate thereof, one of said ends engaging a respective one of said latch members and the other of said ends being convexly conligured and being in sliding engagement against said cam surface,

the engagement between said levers and said latch members being such that said other ends of said levers are continuously held against said cam surface by virtue of the direction in which said resilient means urges said latch members.

11. The latch means of claim 10, including a lock means for locking said levers against any pivotal movement, said lock means including a rotatable locking plate coaxially mounted with said cam and axially adjacent thereto, said plate including a pair of arcuate slots at diametrically opposite ends thereof, said levers each including a rigid pin extending parallel to the rotary axis of said plate and slidably engageable along a respective one of said slots, said plate being rotatable between respective locking and unlocking positions, said locking position coinciding with said pins being engaged within said slots whereby said levers are restrained against pivoting movement, and said unlocking position coinciding with said pins residing outwardly of said slots whereby said levers are freely pivotable relative to said plate, a key-engaging means associated with said plate and adapted to engage a key for rotating said plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,431,562 10/ 1922 Bolles 292-340 1,635,714 7/1927 Hoffmann 70-150 X 2,535,947 12/1950 Newell 70-150 X 3,135,105 6/ 1964 Brody 292--33 X FOREIGN PATENTS 735,885 5/ 1943 Germany.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner ROBERT L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner Us. C1. xn. -79 

